After nearly a year of inquiry, Parliament wants more European oversight and new testing to remedy flaws in manufacturers' checks and to prevent further cheating on car emissions levels.

Transcript:

Two years ago, consumers around the world were horrified to learn their cars polluted up to 40 times more than promised. After nearly a year of investigation into the tentacular Volkswagen emissions scandal, the European Parliament can now definitively say what went wrong. The facts were there. The fact that these cars polluted much more than they were allowed to. But the Commission and the Member States did not go and investigate what went wrong. The Member States were very, very weak in their implementation of European law. They were focusing more on the interest of national car industries than the interest of normal citizens and air quality. The solution? More European oversight, more information for consumers, and new tests on the road. We want cleaner air by making sure the emissions limits are respected under real traffic conditions too. That I think is the first step: to implement the RDE, Real Driving Emissions, tests. With that we are on the right track. Legislation voted through Parliament this week binds Member States to test at least one out of every five cars on the road. The Commission would also have more power to audit national surveillance authorities and do controls directly if needed. They will get the information. Once they get the information, if they don’t act, the European Parliament and civil society is going to say: "Why are you not dealing with this?" and the whole system is designed to make it easier for that information to get to them, so there’s no excuse from the Commission if they don’t act.

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